Background The place of death (PoD) has a significant effect on end-of-life care for patients dying of cancer. Little is known about the place of cancer deaths in our region.

Methods To identify the PoD of patients with cancer in Kuwait, we reviewed the death certificates submitted to the Kuwait Cancer Registry in 2009.

Results Of 611 cancer deaths, 603 (98.7%) died in hospitals and only 6 (1%) patients died at home. More than half (57.3%) of inhospital deaths were in the Kuwait Cancer Control Center. Among those for whom the exact PoD within the hospital was identified (484 patients), 116 (24%) patients died in intensive care units and 12 (2.5%) patients died in emergency rooms.

Conclusions This almost exclusive inhospital death of patients with cancer in Kuwait is the highest ever reported. Research is needed to identify the reasons behind this pattern of PoD and to explore interventions promoting out-of-hospital death among terminally ill cancer patients in Kuwait.